A Brief Review on Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR): A Key Role in Plant Growth Promotion

Abstract

Demand for chemical fertilizers is enormously mounting day-by-day in developing countries like Pakistan. Chemical fertilizers not only deteriorate the soil micro flora, fauna but also cause environmental pollution, water pollution, health problems as well as increase the cost of production. So, there is an urgent need to find out the alternate to these hazardous chemicals. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are the heterogeneous group of bacteria that rapidly colonize the rhizosphere and provide direct or indirect protection to the crop plants. Seed treatment with PGPR not only significantly enhanced the rate of seed germination but also provided protection against pathogenic microorganisms. It has been documented that PGPR significantly enhanced the nutrients and water uptake ability as well as yield of many crops. PGPR shows promising results by creating a symbiotic relationship with other beneficial microorganism, increasing nitrogen fixation and increasing the supply of primary, secondary and micronutrients. PGPR is an interesting aspect to research for scientists and now-a-days a number of PGPR formulations are commercially available. Many scientists illustrated the role of PGPR as growth promoting agents. The current review demonstrates the role of PGPR as an efficient alternate to hazardous chemical fertilizers for eco-friendly and sustainable agriculture.